Sole-tap for boots and shoes



E. J. EMERY.

SOLE TAP FOR BOOTS ANO SHOESA APPLICATION FILED DEC. 22 l 91 9.

Patented J une 21, 1921..

2 g I A mer Z MW entre.

STATES PA [ENIT OFFICE;

ELIAS J. EMERY, OF LYNN, :MASSACHUSETTS v SOLE-TAP FOIL BOOTS AND SHOES.

assenso,

Application filed December 22, 1919.

provide an varticle of manufacture adapted for attachment by the wearer or shoe-maker without skill, without special tools, and without the employment of cement, and which shall, when attached, constitute a resilient evenly-warringl surface having a marked eushioningfeifect, and which will not vwear unduly in any particular region. The preferred material for the tap sole is a resilient composition ofrubber, which may containr fiber or other ingredients, but which in any case possesses thel properties of durability underwear, flexibility, and resilience.

In order to utilize these qualities to their full extent, my new article of manufacture is so arranged as to take advantage of the pneumatic spring constituted by a considerable bubble or volume of air trapped between the boot or shoe sole and the tap sole when the latter is applied, and one important object of the invention is to so devise the tap sole as to render the cavity containing air air-tight without the employment of unreliable cements.

In order to secure these qualities I provide the device witha sealing portion and with an air compressing portion made in such a way that the article can be made substantially of the samethickness throughout, except for a bevel at the edge, presently mentioned, the qualities above-mentioned being secured by control of the shape of the tap sole in cross-section- Economy of material and ease of making by molding operations are sole a and the tap-sole, an effectively tight secured by these provisions.

p In the accompanying drawings: Figure l is a plan view of a sole for th left foot;

Fig. 2 is an under plan View of the same Structure;

Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinalsection on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse section on line 4-4 of Fig. 2; and

Fior. 5 is a longitudinal vertical section Specification ef Letters Patent.

Faten'teddune 21, i921,

Ll serial No. 346,617.

through the article as applied to the sole of a shoe, illustrating its operative functions.

rlhe sole tap may be made for soles of graded sizes and of any of several outlines corresponc'ling to typical shapes of soles in wide use, of which the particular shape illustratcd in the drawings is representative.- This tap-sole may be made of rubber, a mixture of rubber and fiber, or of anyother suitable composition having resilient ilexibility and durable wearing qualities. In cross section, the sole-tap is of substantially uniform thickness, preferably from threesixteenths to oncquarter inch.

A sheet of a suitable material such as mentioned, and of the' order of thickness mentioned, is stiflly llexible, Irequiringconsiderable pressure to detorm it, and regaining its .molded or pressed shape speedily and energetically. These qualities are utilized by making the tap-soles of an 4impressed or molded form substantially as illustrated, and

comprising a domed or protuberantand collapsible area .i and a peripheral attachment margin 2, the concavity 3 within the domed area l being a space for trapped air adapted to bc compressed under the wearers tread upon the applied tap-sole. The collapsible area l is of something less than halt' the superficial area of one face of the tapsole. The domed area l is offset from the margin 2 by the sloping edge Il, permitting the collapse of the material of area l into its own concavity upon upward pressure upon the material, and yielding for this comression by the bending of the portion 4 and tie lateral compression and thickening of the adjacent portion of' the margin 2 induced by this collapse..

Such collapse is resisted not only by the resilience off the material, but by air trappe( undler the dome l and between it and the shoesole a, Fig. 5. In order to permit this air-cushioning effect and in order to excludel water and dirt from the space between the joint between the tap-sole and the shoe-sole,

' as against both the disruptive pressure of the fet level 6 of the upper surface of the margin 2, the margin 2 having inner edges 7 sharply marking the beginning oit the slope fi.

kSeats 9 for nails 10 in the 'form of' recesses extending partly through the margins 2 at points near the middle line between the edges 5 and 7 are provided.

The bottoms of the soles e of the shoes or boots to be reinforced or repaired are curved both in a. lateral and a longitudinal sense; the tap sole isapplied by bending it to fit and driving nails against a clenching; anvil inside the shoe. The eiiect of this is to con press the outer edge 5 against the sole, and at the same time to hold the inner edge 7 compressed against the sole, where it-iorms an air-tight packing against 'the air trapped in dome l. WWhen pressure is applied to dorme l by' treading-upon it, the edge 7 is acted upon yto 'force it against its seat with greater firmness, all of the Weight transmitted through the sole being ihrstwtalren by these edges before the collapse ost the dome i *begins5 and being maintained by the thick# ening of the material under lateral cornpression due to tscoilapse eren aiter 'the il'oot rests upon the margin 2 as Well as the dome .l at full treading pressure, The air seal at the edge 7 is reinforced by the sealing contact at edge 57 l by the substantial Contact of all parts of the margin 2 with the sole a at full treading pressure.

These results could not be secured with success if the margin EZ were cemented in place, since the movement oi the'material under successive tread' g" impulses would soon break a cemented joint9 and the displaced fragments osi cement would destroy the packing` contact between the tap-soie and the leather shoe sole relied upon tor the ei'- ii'ective `function oiiny device.

I prefer to bevel the outer under edge o the tap-sole at ll to cause the 'forcible ciection of mud, 'water and niet snow from the edge of the shoe and away :troni the joint at edgesI 5. '.lhe blot'tloin oi the tap-sole may be roughened, ligured'or ornamented, as irl-- dicated in Fie". 9.

lclainizl. A tap-sole for boots and shores adapted for attachment to the nude side oi the solo, having a stiiiiy flexible iodfuaf ora substantially uniform thickness throughoui comprising' a peripheral. portion sloping7 upwa ily toward the edge, and luiving` a. depressed centrali position joined to the peri= ier-ai portion by a sloping' offset', the margin oi the offset and the peripheral edge being` adapted when attached, by reason oli the tleiibility of thestructure, to hear against the sole and form a double seal against air trapped in the de? A 'pressed centra-l portion and compressed by the collapse into the concavity thereof of the uniform lthickness throughout, comprising a peripheral portion having an upper surface sloping upwardly toward the peripheral edge, said surface and peripheral portion being of substantially uniform. Width,v to constitute a seat adapted to bear against the sole at its inner and outer edges', to form a double seal by pressure contact only of said edges With the sole against which it bears, the remaining central portion o1e the tap-sole being; depressed to project from the bottom surface ofthe tap-sole and 'adapted to opcrate as a compressor for the contained air when collapsed Within the peripheral portion under the tread of the wearer.

A 'tap-sole for boots and shoes adapted for attachment tothe under side of the Sole, comprising a stiiiy flexible body of substantially uniform thickness of which the peripheral portion slopes upwardly toward the edge, and is adapted to be penetrated by fastening ineens ior attachment to the solo, the body having a depressed central portion joiningl the peripheral portion by a sloping oiiset, the margin of' the oset and the pe ripheral edge when attached bearing and lbeingcompressed against the sole to form a double seal against air trapped in the depressed central portion, the depressed portion occupying 'the area of the sole under the ball of the subjected in use to the greatest pressure and exposed to maximum wear. 1 f

fi. i tapsole for boots and shoes comprisingr an approximately fiat member oi substantiall y uniform thickness having,` its central poi'ion inchidingr its upper and lower surfaces depressed relatively to the niargh nal por-tion, the upper surface ci? the niargi nal portion extending in a horizontal direc tion from its inner to its central region and thence shaping' upwardly to the outer edge, and being adapte-d .in use to 'be forced into contact Witt v:he boot or shoe soie et its inner and outer edges, thereby to seal Without cementinpjnnd by said forcible contacts only against leakage of air trapped in the coucavity or" the depressed ortion.

Signed by ine at Boston, ldiassachusetts, lthis nineteenth day of lfeceniber, 1919.

apres J. snaar. 

